


end of days

by hyunsungdotcom



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A bit of chanlix, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Attempt at Humor, Blood and Injury, Drama, Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, Male Friendship, Some Swearing, Weapons, a bit gory but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24301834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyunsungdotcom/pseuds/hyunsungdotcom
Summary: Lee Felix desperately wished life would go back to normal. All his life he wanted to live in a video game, but no one expected the virus to mutate and turn into a zombie plague, turning hordes of people he once knew into the walking dead. After running for his life for days on end, he expects the end for him is near... until he encounters a ragtag bunch of stray kids who are also fighting to survive this apocalypse.Inspired by a zombie virus dream I had, cult movies like Zombieland, and the twitter thread I did!(Some Chanlix sideplot)
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	1. i. the beginning of the end

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:  
> Jeongin - 17  
> 00 line - 18  
> Changbin - 19  
> Minho - 20  
> Chan - 21

_How long has it been?_

Felix regrets wishing for a more interesting life. The day-to-day of an 18-year old high school senior seemed to be so monotonous to him — waking up early, half-assing studying for tests, talking about the most mundane things with his parents when he got home — his days seemed to be endlessly blurring together. Even his future in college didn't get him excited — he'd be studying engineering because his family expected it of him, not because it was his something that interested him. Truthfully, he would rather study dance or sports science instead; his parents scoffed at both ideas. The only thing he looked forward to in his daily life was playing video games when he got home. He often imagined himself as a protagonist in one of these games - a sword-swinging prince, an outlaw gunslinger or a post-apocalypse survivor...

_Well, damn it. I guess you gotta be careful what you wish for, because this fucking sucks._

* * *

He remembers how it started. He was walking home on his way from the PC Room he frequented around dusk, as he routinely did, when he noticed someone, possibly from his school, approaching him. He didn't think twice about it — he knew a couple of students lived in his subdivision — but he did wonder why that classmate was walking so slowly. Wouldn't she be scolded for going home so late? He turned around to see that she was walking with a strange slow gait that he had never seen before in school. _I've never seen her before, I guess_. He then focused his vision on her face. His blood turned cold. 

"What the —"

Her face was completely pale, almost gray to be exact.

All color disappeared from her face except vivid red blood completely smearing her mouth, dripping down to her uniform, staining the sidewalk underneath her.

Her irises were completely pale while the whites of her eyes were bloodshot.

He wanted to believe this was a prank, or his eyes were fooling him. But the rancid stench that she brought as she drew closer to him told him that it was real.

His instincts took over - he decided not to take any chances and ran like hell, praying to whoever was listening that she didn't bring any friends. 

He ran home at what felt like the speed of sound.

The thump of his heart grew louder.

_Was this some kind of joke —_

_It wasn't real, was it?_ The acrid scent he could never forget. The trail of blood she left on the ground. The inhuman sounds she made as she growled.

_This wasn't happening._

He rang the doorbell in a frenzy only to realize his parents weren't home. In a panic, he jammed his keys into the front door. When he finally got in, he slammed and locked the door shut and barricaded the doorway by stacking tables.

 _Am I crazy?_ _What the hell was going on?_

Out of panic, he dialed both of his parents.

Neither of them responded.

He searched online for anything that proved he wasn't crazy. He scanned news or updates from his friends as he frantically refreshed his Twitter timeline.

"Breaking news: Hundreds of virus patients worldwide exhibit strange symptoms." He clicked the link to watch the live video broadcast.

"This is Channel 3 with your anchor, Diane, here with some breaking news. The public has just gotten word of a new strain of the virus reported worldwide that the CDC is calling "ZOB-20". While the CDC says that there is no cause for immediate alarm, if you are exhibiting any of the symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, and coughing up blood, we advise you to go to your nearest hospital immediately. Overall, we advise the public to stay safe and we will report straight to you with any updates."

Felix felt his hands shake as he read the comments below it.

_"No wayyy is this real?? rip 2 us"_

_"LMAO WE R GONNA DIE #APOCALYPSE"_

_"The walking dead??"_

His breath quickened as he tried to remain calm. 

Was home safe?

He took a quick peek outside -- seemed like a normal evening in his quaint neighborhood, except it was dead quiet, which was unusual. Where were the sounds of his neighbors' kids playing outside? The cars that passed by?

Then he heard it. 

_A long, blood-curdling scream._ Followed by the same inhuman growls he had heard earlier.

Felix was petrified. He had a gut feeling that scream belonged to his neighbor, the lady who had moved in last month. He had no idea what would happen - should he stay here? 

He had shut all the window curtains and dimmed down his bedroom lights - would the light attract them to him? He had no clue, but he didn't want to risk it. 

He quickly went to the toolshed and quickly rummaged through his family belongings, wondering what would possibly be a suitable way to defend himself. He had hoped to find a gun or something, but only found small garden tools like tiny spades and miniature hammers. _Just my luck_.

He thankfully had later found a machete knife (which he assumed would be a decent weapon), a swiss army knife, and the remnants of a first aid kit. He then scoured the pantry for non-perishable food. They unfortunately only had cans of peas and tuna fish. He packed all of these things into his rucksack, emptying out school notebooks and papers.

He immediately went to his room and stared at the wall, praying this was a fever dream he would soon wake up from. If his parents didn't come home soon, he would leave the first thing tomorrow - assuming he'd survive the night.

He woke up from the most restless sleep he ever had and checked the time. It was 02:06 AM. He peeked outside his room, looking for the red pick-up truck his father drove. It wasn't in the driveway. 

_Maybe they went missing for another reason? It doesn't have to be real..._

Anxious, he checked his timeline again.

He noticed that the topic #ZOB20ATTACKS was trending.

He scanned the news - he had learned that ZOB20 patients were brutally attacking others around the world, with incidents in Rio, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Osaka were among those reported.

A news segment from Los Angeles had shown up on his feed.

"Hello and welcome back to Channel 3 LA news. More on our terrifying story of brutal ZOB-20 attacks. The paranoia of these attacks has caused a worldwide spread panic of a zombie apocalypse. While citizens are panicking, the CDC has called these fears "ridiculous" and "untrue". We talk with disease specialist Dr. Ralph Hazel to learn more about these claims..."

He put his phone down. He knew this was no fever dream.

* * *

Felix really couldn't recall life after leaving his house. As he left at early dawn, he saw a few of his neighbors slowly approaching him - with the same ghastly pale faces and milky white irises and vivid red blood smearing their mouths. One of them was the neighbor he had heard scream last night - all of the life drained out of her, her body deformed, her limbs sticking out at wrong angles. The sight would forever haunt his memory. He had biked his way out of the crowded part of town until his legs gave in and his bike crashed beyond repair. 

_Just my luck._

With bloody scratches on his knees, he was fortunate enough to reach the outskirts of town - no undead in sight, but also no living either. Did they all decide to evacuate at the same time?

* * *

Life seemed to be a blur — was it four days? Why did it feel like an eternity? Within the period of time since he left home, he had raided empty convenience stores, an abandoned fishing shack near a lake, and deserted homes hoping for more food to eat. His phone had long died out, and power was gone too. Felix wished he could find a handheld battery radio like the one his dad carried around but couldn't find anything. He slept in these places with one eye open, as he knew that any minute could be his last.

He never stayed in any place too long - he could never be too careful as his closest encounter happened in the second home he raided. Just as Felix began to feel secure in a relatively well-stocked home where he thought he could get some rest, he was awakened by an undead housekeeper whom he had thankfully managed to outrun.

He didn't know what was going on and how long could he keep this up - he just wanted to live long enough to meet other survivors. He had still hoped this was one extremely long nightmare, but the gashes on his knees reminded him that this was real - a fever dream he couldn't wake up from.

Once he had left the last abandoned home he had slept in, fueled on nothing but 5 minutes of sleep and a can of sausages he had scavenged, he had walked for what felt like hours hoping to find some civilization. He was hoping to find more food — praying with his life at this point- —when he saw the signpost of a mini grocery mart in his horizon.

_Hallelujah._

Cautious, he took out his machete knife. He had wished he had found a weapon with a longer range, like a gun or a bat, but prayed that he was fast enough to never need those anyway. As much as possible, he was opposed to touching the undead. He didn't know if the simple act of touching them could lead to infection, and he didn't want to find out through first-hand experience.

As he entered the grocery mart, he saw the lights were still on but flickering rapidly — this place probably had emergency power. Although the place was raided, there was still a good amount of food here — he could probably survive for a week here. If he could lock this place up properly... There were no weapons in sight unless you counted child-grade craft scissors, but he was delighted to find dozens of chocolate bars and potato chip bags and cans of energy drinks still on the shelves. 

"This is too good to be true," he mumbled to himself.

As he reached out his hand to grab a bag of Lay's to eat, he felt a dull metallic hit on his back.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Felix yelled as the impactful swing flung him to the ground. His vision was blurry for a while until he could see a boy extend his hand to help lift him up. "You're alive," the boy said. "Thank God."

The boy was roughly his age but a bit taller, wearing a baseball jersey and jogging pants while holding a red baseball bat. Felix couldn't process how he felt — yes, he should be angry that a complete stranger attacked him with a baseball bat, but he was elated to see an actual, living person.

"Yeah, I'm alive. And so are you, I guess." Felix said, gingerly checking for injuries in the sore part of his back.

"Guys! Come over here!" The boy yelled. Felix's ears perked up. _He's not alone?_

"Seungmin? Why?" A voice in the distance replied. _He's not alone._

"Guys, we found another survivor!" He yelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole fanfiction was inspired by the thread I did on twitter: https://twitter.com/hyunsungdotcom/status/1263306642835169281?s=20
> 
> thank you so much to @vien_en_rosie and @onlyhyunjin on twt for beta reading!


	2. ii. nightmare within a nightmare

_Another survivor._

Felix had never been so relieved to hear those words. So these past few days weren't some bizarre hallucination of his mind after all. He truly wasn't alone.

"How many of there are you?" Felix asked the boy who had just knocked him to the floor with the baseball bat, who he had just learned was named Seungmin. To his dismay, he didn't answer, as his eyes busily shifted left and right waiting for his colleagues to arrive.

"Listen, I'm just hoping I could go along with you guys," Felix started, before being interrupted by the arrival of one of Seungmin's companions.

"Seungmo!" A slender, brown-haired boy with delicate facial features ran towards the aisle where the both of them had been standing. Felix observed that while he looked almost mythical, like a Greek statue in motion, the large and threatening crossbow slung across his body was very much real.

"Minho-hyung, what should we do with him?" Seungmin asked the older boy while glancing at Felix. "He's been alone for days and wants to go with us. But in my opinion, we should keep some distance. We don't know whether he's been infected."

Felix threw his hands up. "I haven't touched any of them. Please." He began to defend himself. 

The boy named Minho scratched his head. "He really does look clean. Seungmin, maybe we should take him with us."

"But remember last time with that little girl?" Seungmin asked. "We can't make the same mistake."

"Hey! I'm the one who said she smelled weird! My senses are never wrong! It was Chan-hyung who insisted!" Minho argued.

Felix was confused. "Do you mean... there's a possibility ... that people can carry the disease before symptoms show?"

Seungmin nodded. "Well, we aren't sure yet. Our theory is that the symptoms may manifest differently in different people..." He glanced around. "Where's Jisung? We should vote on whether we should take this kid with us."

 _Kid?_ Felix wanted to laugh. He looked at least as old as him.

"Hey, I'm here!" Another boy jogged towards them, who Felix assumed to be Jisung. He could hear the rattling of several items in his bulky-looking utility belt as he approached the aisle. "It took me forever to find, but I got some batteries!"

"Jisung, do you think he's clean?" Minho asked.

Jisung's eyes widened when he saw Felix. "What you found someone? Oh, is he alone?"

Felix nodded. Jisung stroked his chin. "Well he does look uninfected... And Minho-hyung, he doesn't smell weird right? I mean, God knows we all could use a shower right now, but he doesn't smell like _them_ right?"

"So you agree he's clean?" Minho asked his two companions. Jisung nodded while Seungmin crossed his arms. "We should let Chan-hyung decide if he can stay with us. If he's survived this long on his own then maybe he won't be a deadweight. Jisung, why is the left bag in your belt bag so stuffed?"

Jisung grinned. "Twinkies."

Seungmin sighed.

"Hey don't judge me! I'm willing to share." He dug into his bag to hand his two companions a Twinkie. "Minho-hyung, you got enough food for all of us, right?"

"We could last for months, maybe even a year, with the stuff we put in the truck," Minho said. "We should leave some food for other survivors... Anyway, we should bring this guy to Chan-hyung. Let's put him in the back."

Jisung nodded.

"Hold on, let's be safe here. How do we know he won't turn in an instant?" Seungmin asked. The others paused in contemplation.

Minho turned towards Felix. "Listen, we can take you to our base and you can join us. But right now, we're cautious about you being infected and you not knowing or not telling us. It's happened before... so as a precaution, we'll have to tape your mouth shut and your wrists together."

Felix wanted to laugh, but he could see that they all seemed to share the same trauma by the expression written on their faces. "Not forever, right?"

Jisung sighed as he took out a roll of duct tape from his utility belt bag along with a swiss army knife. "Based on previous encounters, we think 3-4 hours is the longest period of time from point of infection to showing symptoms. Please put your hands behind your back." Felix complied, feeling that they weren't too excited to do this to him either. 

"Sorry, just have to be safe. We're overestimating here, but, if you don't show symptoms by sundown, I think, you're probably okay." Jisung said while stretching the tape several times over his wrists. "Ahh, now that that's done, I'll have to tape your mouth shut too."

Felix was led by the boys to their pick-up truck, a white-painted one that seemed a bit rusty. He had to sit in the back with the rest of the cargo, so he couldn't talk to them. He realized they didn't even ask for his name. It was probably for the best.

_No need to get attached to someone who might turn out to be undead._

Still, Felix couldn't help but he hopeful in the fact that he had found fellow survivors. Aside from the brief encounter he had with the undead housemaid, he was 99% confident he was no zombie. And he was hopeful that the rest of them, including their leader Chan, whoever he was, could see that too.

\---

"Hello!" Minho yelled out as they arrived at their destination, honking the horn of the truck. "You bastards still alive?"

"Of course we are," said a voice that had come from behind the gate of the building. The voice belonged to a tall, slender boy. He seemed relaxed and casual in his expression, wearing neon sweatpants and a baggy hoodie while his beanie hid his somewhat long dark hair, as if he had just been chilling at a skate park in the middle of the apocalypse.

The boy's eyes also widened when he saw Felix, who had been sitting in the pickup truck silently 

"We found someone, but we aren't sure he's clean." Jisung explained.

"Well, was it necessary to tape his mouth?" The boy asked.

"We can't take another chance, Hyunjin," Seungmin said. In a split second, Hyunjin's expression turned dismal and he nodded. "I'll call Chan-hyung." He rushed to go up into the building's upper floor to call this leader of theirs.

Felix was led by the rest of the boys into the building. He noticed it was some sort of abandoned preschool building, which left him feeling uneasy. A place that was designed to be bright and cheerful instead sent chills down his spine when he saw that there were old bloodstains on the walls and no sound of children nearby, just the creaking of the swingset in the distance.

 _How many hours has it been already?_ Felix wanted to ask, but the duct tape over his lips made it impossible. Jisung then realized that Felix was staring at the chunky digital watch on his wrist. "You want to know if you're clean already?" He checked his watch. "Well, it's been approximately 46 minutes, but that 2-3 hour mark is just an estimate of mine. To be safe, we're waiting until sundown."

Hyunjin went back down. "Chan-hyung is asleep. I would wake him up, but he's been on night patrol for 4 times this week already. Anyway, we can wait if he displays symptoms." He looked at Felix with pity, observing the dark eye circles that had dominated his face. "We should let him rest too."

Felix almost wanted to cry tears of joy. _Rest?_ After running on almost no sleep for the past week, hearing those words seemed like a miracle.

He found it strange how he was deemed currently untrustworthy and possibly a threat by these boys yet for the first time since the day it all went down, he could finally sleep in peace because someone would be watching him - even for the wrong reasons. 

They nodded. They lead him to an empty classroom, similar to the one he remembers he had a kid. It was mostly dark, even at what he assumed to be the early afternoon, but he could make out the classroom through the beams of sunlight faintly creeping through the curtain-covered glass windows. 

Minho motioned him to sit down at a corner of the room, where there were cushions and stuffed toys spread across a jigsaw puzzle mat. "Sorry we can't take off the tape yet." All Felix could do was nod. "You better not be infected, by the way. We're running low on ammo and we can't waste it on you... but seriously... don't be infected okay? For what my senses and experiences are telling me... hm.. I don't think you are gonna turn, I'm sure of it. Anyway, sleep tight." He said while leaving Felix alone in the room.

Felix didn't realize just how tired he was. His entire body sang sweet relief as his eyelids shut. _Sleep._ It had become both an unattainable luxury and a basic human craving he was deprived of these past few days. Something he had once taken for granted to play video games until the early dawn, in what seemed like a past life. His past life. He missed all of it. The sound of his alarm clock. The faces of his friends greeting him good morning. 

The chatter in the school hallway. The dismissal bell. The unmistakable ringing of his phone when he knew his mother was calling, yelling at him to come home. The honk of his father's pickup truck arriving at 9 on the dot every evening. 

He couldn't believe how much he missed this past life.

Felix finally falls into slumber. 

* * *

Suddenly Felix finds himself awake in his bedroom, the same peaceful one he’s had for almost all of his 18 years. The same anime posters were hung on the wall, along with pictures of him with his family and friends, and the framed swimming medals he had received in his childhood. It was exactly as he remembered.

He can hear his mother cooking breakfast downstairs - the unmistakable sizzle of bacon on the pan could be heard from his bedroom. He rushes to shower and get dressed. He checks his backpack and only cluttered notes and scattered pens are inside. He checks his phone. _Shoot._ Apparently he has a history test he didn't study for at all.

He quickly eats breakfast alone, debating with himself on whether he would walk to school or take his bike this morning since one advantage of taking the bus was having an opportunity to talk to the pretty new girl in class since he knew she lived nearby. He then realized if he wanted to catch the bus - _crap_ , he'd have to leave in five minutes. 

"Mom! I'm leaving for school in a few!" Felix yells out to his mother, as he did routinely when he said goodbye. His mother comes out from the kitchen. 

"Yongbokie! What's happened to you?" She drops the porcelain bowl as she sees Felix's face.

"Wha — what do you mean?" He asked.

No words could come out of her mouth. She quivered as she picked up a frying pan, moving into a defensive position. "What have you done to my boy?"

Felix couldn't speak. He didn't understand why his mother was staring at him with fear, her arms shaking while she crouched holding up a frying pan.

As he approached her to ask her what was wrong, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror hung in the living room. He couldn't believe what he saw.

Staring back in the mirror was a completely different person. He suddenly found himself unable to speak Instead of seeing himself, Felix found his face was grey and devoid of any warmth. Instead of looking to see his dark brown irises, his eyes were completely pale white. Blood leaked slowly out of his eyes, almost like tears.

He was undead.

* * *

Felix woke up in a cold sweat from the vivid dream he had. _Fuck, what was that?_

He looked down to see his arms and mouth were still taped together. Where was he again? In a flash, everything came back to him. The zombie girl who started it all. The panicked bike ride out of town. Him crashing his bike and running with a limp, trying to find a place to hie. The close encounter he had raiding abandoned homes and stores for food. The mini grocery mart. Being hit by a bat out of nowhere — Seungmin. The crossbow guy... Minho? The guy who taped his arms together — Jisung. They took him to the building where he was currently in. A preschool. There was their comrade at the gate, Hyunjin. And throughout it all, they mentioned their leader — what was his name? Chan?

He was lying alone, realizing the room was dark. _It was past sundown now,_ and Felix was filled with relief at the thought.

He was human.

Undoubtedly.

As Felix began thanking his lucky stars, he heard a rap on the door. "I'm coming in, okay?" It was a somewhat high-pitched voice that Felix didn't recognize.

It was a boy he had never met. Although it was dark, Felix could make out some of his features through the dim light of the kerosene lamp that the boy had brought into the room. He appeared to be not that much older than him — maybe younger? His features were sharp — his eyes in particular. They seemed almost intimidating at first glance until Felix quickly realized that there was a distinct sparkle to them, equal parts curiosity, naivety, and wonder.

“Hello, are you okay?” He asked. "Thank goodness you didn't turn."

Felix realized that attached to his hip was a holster with his handgun. His hand seemed to have hovered above it earlier. Would he have shot him had he turned out to be undead?

He crouched down. "I'm going to take this off your mouth, and it'll hurt. So in advance, I apologize." With a swift pull, the boy ripped off the duct tape covering Felix's mouth.

"FUUUUU —" Felix yelled.

"Sorry! I hope you got some rest," the boy said.

“How long was I asleep?” Felix wondered.

“Hmm... hyungs came back around four and a half hours ago... so I think around that time. They sent me to check on you.”

Felix nodded. The boy took out a Swiss army knife and proceeded to cleanly remove the tape from his wrists.

"I guess you'll stay with us, then? Since you're clearly human. Oh, I forgot, my name is Jeongin... you are?" He reached his arm out to shake his hand.

"My name's Felix. Where are the others? How many are there of you? Why are you staying here?" Felix's mind was full of questions.

"Hmmm.. Well, there's a tall gate so we fairly feel secure, so we've made this our base for the past 3 days. Oh, and there are 7 of us. Hmm, 8, counting you. And, well, we're having dinner in a few, which is why they sent me to wake you up and fetch you."

Felix looked again at the gun holster on his hip. "Or kill me."

Jeongin frowned. "I wasn't happy I got assigned. I've never even killed a zombie yet."

"Me neither," Felix said.

"How did you survive, then? Being on your own and all," Jeongin asked.

"I just... ran like hell I guess? Pure luck." Felix shrugged.

"I got lucky too, actually... I um... hid in a museum basement for days until hyungs found me."

Felix stared at the boy in awe. "A... museum basement? How did you end up there? How did _they_ not find you first?"

Jeongin pursed his lips together. "Well, I was at school. Before I knew it, I was running for my life when I saw one of my classmates... mauled another one of my classmates. My first thought was to run and look for a place hide since I didn't have a weapon onhand... The first place that came to my mind was the museum where my father works nearby. It has a basement underground. I just happened to know the password. It just came to mind while I was running away from my infected classmates... It had some paintings, old books, and artifacts, those sorts of things, they would probably be heavily guarded so I knew it would be secure. It really was my luck that the museum was within running distance from school. But before I knew it, I stayed there for so long I was starting to think I'd die of hunger inside. It was until I heard the voices of Changbin-hyung and Chan-hyung arguing outside that I knew I could leave the basement."

Felix looked at him in awe. "Hunger? You didn't think of leaving to find food?"

"I thought about it, but I happened to have a bunch of M&M packets in my backpack so... I decided to hide until either someone would find me or my stash would run out. I just didn't realize I'd been there for three days until Hyunjin-hyung told me."

Felix was amazed at how casually Jeongin told him his story. He wondered if he would have done the same, staying in a safe place waiting to rescued, or if his nerves and hunger would get the better of him and he'd run away. 

"I'm guessing they didn't tie you up like they did to me just now?" Felix asked.

"Well, it's... a rather new policy due to recent events..." Jeongin mumbled.

"Ah." _The little girl._ "How long has it been since the outbreak?" Felix asked. He had no perception of time since it began.

Jeongin pursed his lips again. "In our country at least...It started first in Chan-hyung and Changbin-hyung's hometown, from what I can tell. Around ten days ago. But the government covered it up... said it was fake. They didn't want to cause mass panic. Since they found me around... five days ago, It was eight days ago when it broke out in my district. I'm not too sure about other details, but the media only announced it as a new virus strain happening worldwide after they found me."

Five days. Felix realized that he had been running for his life for at least five days. "How did you guys find out about the news?"

"I heard it in the truck radio. But that was one of the last broadcasts before all we got was static..." Jeongin sighed. "Anyway, we can't keep the others waiting so let's go..." he stood up. "And by the way, Felix, how old are you?"

"I'm 18," Felix answered, following him outside.

"Oh, so you're older! You're my hyung as well. I was hoping I wouldn't be the youngest, but I guess I am. I'm 17," Jeongin said sheepishly. 

"Where are we going?" Felix asked.

"We're going to eat together, upstairs. Minho-hyung got a lot of canned meat during their trip to the mart earlier, so I'm looking forward to it. " Jeongin led him up a flight of stairs to a door that had the words "Director's Office" labeled. He knocked on the door.

"Hyung! He's not dead!" Jeongin exclaimed.

"Jeongin?" A voice had said. "Changbin, go get the door,"

They were greeted at the door by a boy he had also never met before. Within seconds, Felix felt the strange sensation of a dark aura radiated by his eyes alone. The gaze radiated from his eyes was intense and cold, perhaps even piercing, and the dim lighting only added to that. It didn't matter that he was somehow shorter than both him and Jeongin, Felix found his analytical glare to be one that had frightened him.

But that was over in mere seconds. "Changbin-hyung!" Jeongin exclaimed. "He's not undead. I guess he can stay with us! His name is Felix-hyung."

Changbin reached out his hand to shake his. "Felix, nice to meet you. I'm Changbin. You're lucky you're not infected. I hope you can stay with us and help us."

"T-thanks," was all Felix could mutter.

"Chan-hyung, Felix can join us, right?" Jeongin asked the boy sitting in the director's chair.

So this was their leader, Chan. He seemed to be tinkering with something by the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

Felix was a little taken aback by how unexpectedly beautiful he was. Golden blond curls fell past the boy's bandana-covered forehead, framing his face beautifully. He was reminded of a lion's mane, seeing how his hair was a little long. With his broad shoulders and defined biceps, Felix imagined that this was what a hero out of Greek myths would look like. Felix took the rest of his face into observation. He pouted as he stared intently at whatever he was fixing - a radio? Just like he couldn't take his eyes away from it, Felix found it hard not to stare at him, fixating a little on his lips. He couldn't understand why, but he couldn't stop to look at how rosy and full they looked —

"Hello! Glad to see you're alive!" Chan exclaimed once he finally noticed the arrival of Felix and Jeongin in the room. As he stood up from his chair and approached him and Jeongin, Felix could feel his ears turning red.

Felix felt a little frozen but quickly regained his composure. "I'm glad I'm human too," he said sheepishly, trying to avoid Chan's gaze. Even though he was in no way intimidating at the moment, Felix couldn't explain why his hands felt clammy around Chan.

"My name is Chan." He extended his hands towards Felix, who was hoping the dimly lit room would hide his ears. 

"I'm thankful you let me be with you guys," Felix shook his hand. "I'm Felix."

"We're not in the business of leaving anyone behind, Felix. Don't mention it. In times like these... we have no choice but to stick together. But I'm sorry the boys had to do that to you earlier." Chan scratched his head.

"It's been explained to me... I get it," Felix nodded.

"Anyway, you must be famished. Jeongin, are Minho and the others done preparing the food?" Chan called out the young boy.

"I'll check," Jeongin rushed outside for a bit to call Minho. He quickly returned to say that the food was ready.

"Alright... Felix!" Chan patted him on the back. "Let's head outside and eat... it's probably your first meal since the apocalypse began, eh?"


End file.
